Quarterly Earnings Watch

In a replay of Thursday morning's session, blue-chip U.S. stocks were sagging early in the trading session Friday amid further gains in small- and
medium-sized shares. The flood of third-quarter earnings reports ebbed Friday, giving investors a chance to catch their breath after the downpour of earlier in the week. The following are companies posting third quarter earnings for Oct 23.

• Bellwether stock for the semiconductor sector Applied Materials (AMAT) is expected to open 4 percent higher, due to plans for a restructuring, which will eliminate 2,000 jobs, but promises to result in $40 million in savings per quarter.
• Harrisburg, Pa.-based company AMP Inc.(AMP) reported on Friday that it lost $76.3 million, or 35 cents per share, in the third quarter and plans to lay off a total of 4,200 people. The world's largest maker of electrical connectors said its most recent results were affected by charges for restructuring and other expenses. About 2,200 people had been let go as of October, according to the company.
• Nokia's (NOK.A) cellular phone sales nearly doubled in the third quarter, helping to fuel a 75 percent increase in pretax profit for the first nine months of the year, to $1.9 billion. The group's president Jorma Ollila said the results had surpassed the company's own expectations. "We now feel confident in declaring that we have significantly increased our market share in mobile phones to become the largest manufacturer of mobile phones worldwide," said Ollila.
• CDNow (CDNW) reported a third-quarter loss of 74 cents a share, wider than the 36-cent-a-share loss it posted in the year-ago quarter. The online music retailer was expected to lose 77 cents a share, according to First Call.